Middle class shoppers are falling for an online scam by fraudsters masquerading as Cornish fashion company Seasalt – despite the fake site spelling the county’s name ‘Cornwoll’.
A slew of mums have admitted they fell for the scam after clicking on a link they saw on Facebook, which then led them to the knock-off clothing website.
The page – incorrectly spelled seasaltcornwoll.com – used images from the real Seasalt site and sales of up to 80 per cent off to draw hapless buyers in.
Some items on the bogus website were listed for as low as £1, with one advertised deal offering six pieces for £42.
Littered with pop-ups urging people to buy straight away as the offers will only last for a few more minutes, the post on Facebook claims Seasalt is struggling and wants to sell off old items as cheaply as possible.
In fact, the real Seasalt’s turnover surged from £96.4m to £118.8m in the year to January 2023.
The fake site promises jumpers for as little as £12, while dresses are as low as £10 and jewellery is on offer for just a couple of pounds.
After filling their cart, the customer is promised free shipping and is prompted to put their card details and address in.
However, those who did place orders say they’ve lost the money and not received any goods.
The real Seasalt has since put a warning on its website in response to the fake site.
Last night a spokesperson said that the sites ‘are not legitimate and are in no way connected to our business’.
Victims of the scam took to popular parenting site Mumsnet to detail how they were duped.
One said on May 18: ‘I just placed an order on a seasalt webpage for some stuff they are selling really cheaply.
‘When I looked at the order confirmation it said seasalts not seasalt for the company name. I did pay on my credit card.
‘What can I do to stop it going through? Can’t believe I fell for this. Must be getting old.’
And after being encouraged to report it, the poster said: ‘Thanks everyone I’m reporting it now.
‘I’m so annoyed. Apart from anything else I’ve got better bloody things to be doing than reporting fake websites.
‘Jesus why don’t people just get proper jobs for all the effort they put into making scam websites?’
One user replied: ‘Facebook really ought to be made to sort this sort of s*** out.’
Another said: ‘Is it the ad that says they are closing some of their stores and selling off stuff really cheaply?’
One said they saw the post on Facebook and noticed the website address used a hyphen between seasalt and Cornwall whilst the genuine site doesn’t.
Another site that is still active today spells Cornwall Cornwoll.
‘I have reported the seasalt one twice this morning – my suspicions were raised when it said closing down sale, yet they had new stock on the website,’ said another Mumsnetter.
‘I opened the real web page and compared the URL at the top of the page.
‘Facebook are very slow to react.’
Another said they had seen similar scams for womenswear brands Lucy & Yak, Joules, Boden, Cath Kidston and Jigsaw.
‘If it looks too good to be true, it is! If you really want to be sure if a good brand is selling everything off for £3.99 or something, go independently to their actual website,’ one said.
And another added: ‘I’ve reported so many of these but they’re still there. Hope you get your money back OP.’
Another spoke about being duped by a similar fraudulent website pretending to be British homeware and clothing brand Cath Kidston.
Earlier this week Bank of Ireland warned consumers about a new wave of purchase scams luring unsuspecting shoppers through fake online ads.
It said the past 12 months had seen a 32% increase in scams reported to them.
Meanwhile the Chartered Trading Standards Institute also warned of similar scams, with 800,000 people across Europe and the US believed to be affected.
An international investigation by the Guardian, Die Zeit and Le Monde showed the sites are run from China, with an astonishing 76,000 websites created and £43m estimated to have been taken.
Yesterday Seasalt said it was working with Facebook owner Meta to sort the issue out.
A spokesperson said: ‘In recent weeks, we have been made aware of a number of unauthorised websites and fraudulent social media accounts trading under the appearance of Seasalt Cornwall, using our branding and logo and targeting our customer community.
‘These sites and accounts are not legitimate and are in no way connected to our business.
‘We have posted messages across our channels to warn our customers and advise them not to transact with these sites, including providing additional security advice on our site.
‘We have also requested that our community reports all targeted ads directly to social media platforms so they can be blocked as promptly as possible.
‘We are taking this situation extremely seriously and we are carrying out every possible action to get these sites reported and removed.
‘We have a specific process in place for dealing with this that includes reporting the sites to relevant authorities and third parties to have them taken down.
‘We are members of Meta’s Brand Protection Scheme and we are working closely with them to ensure these fraudulent advertisers are removed.
‘Our priority is ensuring our Seasalt customers and brand do not continue to be victims of this fraudulent activity and can shop with Seasalt and our trusted retail partners in complete confidence.’
Seasalt was founded by the Chadwick family in 1981.
Meta is aware and has been contacted for comment.